Take a game-day spin around the AHL ice with latest from around the American Hockey League in today’s Morning Skate.
Complete Schedule || Playoff Brackets || Today’s Scoreboard || League Leaders
Tonight’s Previews
Game 1 – 7:05 ET, AHL Live
Springfield and Providence kick off the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs when they drop the puck on Game 1 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center tonight… This is the third postseason meeting all-time between the Falcons and Bruins, but the first since 1997… The cities’ original AHL franchises — the Springfield Indians and Providence Reds — played the first postseason game in league history on Mar. 23, 1937, a 1-0 Springfield victory… The Falcons and Bruins are both looking to improve on their second-round exits in last year’s playoffs… Springfield won the Northeast Division with 100 points, tying the franchise record set in 1995-96… The Falcons’ 47 victories were the most in their 20-year history… Providence earned the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with 91 points… Falcons forward Carter Camper, acquired by Columbus from Boston for Blake Parlett on Feb. 7, had 4-16-20 in 19 games for Springfield after tallying 8-23-31 in 41 games with Providence to start the season… The Bruins’ Alexander Khokhlachev ranked third among AHL rookies in scoring with 21-36-57; teammate Seth Griffith was fifth with 20-30-50… Springfield (6-2-0-2) took the regular-season series from Providence (4-5-0-1), 14 points to nine.
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “B” (best-of-5)
2-Springfield Falcons vs. 7-Providence Bruins
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – Springfield at Providence, 7:05
Game 2 – Fri., Apr. 25 – Providence at Springfield, 7:00
Game 3 – Sat., Apr. 26 – Providence at Springfield, 7:00
*Game 4 – Tue., Apr. 29 – Springfield at Providence, 7:05
*Game 5 – Sat., May 3 – Providence at Springfield, 7:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
Game 1 – 8:00 ET, AHL Live
After capturing the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL’s regular-season points champions and repeating as the #1 seed in the Western Conference, the Texas Stars begin their 2014 postseason against the team that knocked them out of last year’s playoffs… The Barons won last year’s second-round series four games to one… Texas’s offense, which ranked second in the league with 274 goals scored in 2013-14, was paced by AHL MVP Travis Morin (32-56-88) and Rookie of the Year Curtis McKenzie (27-38-65)… The Stars were first in the AHL on the power play (25.3 percent) during the regular season, while the Barons ranked 28th on the penalty kill (78.9 percent)… On the other side, Oklahoma City’s power play (22.1%) and Texas’s penalty kill (86.4%) were both third-best in the league… Former Stars goaltender Richard Bachman was 26-19-6 for Oklahoma City this season… The Barons went 20-7-1-4 over their final 32 games to claim the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference… Oklahoma City won six of its last seven regular-season home games; the only loss was a 2-1 defeat to Texas last Wednesday… Stars captain Maxime Fortunus has played 94 career Calder Cup Playoff games, sixth-most by a defenseman in league history.
Western Conference Quarterfinals – Series “E” (best-of-5)
1-Texas Stars vs. 8-Oklahoma City Barons
Game 1 – Wed., Apr. 23 – Texas at Oklahoma City, 8:00
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – Texas at Oklahoma City, 9:00
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 30 – Oklahoma City at Texas, 8:30
*Game 4 – Fri., May 2 – Oklahoma City at Texas, 8:30
*Game 5 – Sat., May 3 – Oklahoma City at Texas, 8:00
*if necessary… All times Eastern
Back Again
Oklahoma City is one of four AHL teams to have made the Calder Cup Playoffs in each of the last four years… Here are the current postseason appearance streaks of this year’s 16 playoff clubs:
12 — Milwaukee Admirals
12 — Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins
5 — Manchester Monarchs
4 — Oklahoma City Barons
3 — Rochester Americans
3 — Toronto Marlies
2 — Binghamton Senators
2 — Grand Rapids Griffins
2 — Providence Bruins
2 — Springfield Falcons
2 — Texas Stars
1 — Abbotsford Heat
1 — Albany Devils
1 — Chicago Wolves
1 — Norfolk Admirals
1 — St. John’s IceCaps
From Calder to Stanley
Max Pacioretty‘s game-winning and series-clinching goal for Montreal last night was his first postseason tally since May 26, 2010, when he scored for the Hamilton Bulldogs in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals vs. Texas… P.K. Subban, who assisted Pacioretty’s winner last night, also drew an assist on that goal four years ago… Jordan Caron, who scored his first career NHL playoff goal for Boston last night, had 2-7-9 in 12 playoff games with Providence last spring… Dan Carcillo, who had one of the New York Rangers’ goals in last night’s 4-1 win over Philadelphia, netted his first pro playoff marker for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in Game 7 of their first-round series with Bridgeport in 2006.
AHL Live
Don’t miss a second on the road to the 2014 Calder Cup championship. AHL Live brings AHL action to your desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet all season long with live video webcasts and free highlights of every AHL game… Visit ahllive.com for details.
